Etymograph

English

potable

Potable comes from Latin pōtābilis ‘drinkable, potable’, and goes back to pōtus.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpōtus
  2. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEpōtō‘drink’
  3. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEpōtābilis‘drinkable, potable’
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400potable
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500same form‘drinkable, potable’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1708same form

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Earlier history not traced here.

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpōtus
  2. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEpōtō‘drink’
  3. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEpōtābilis‘drinkable, potable’
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400potable
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500same form‘drinkable, potable’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1708same form

Earliest quotation: 1708, John Philips, (please specify the page): “When solar beams / Parch thirsty human veins, the…”

The story

The adjective is derived from Late Middle English potable (‘drinkable, potable’), from Middle French, Old French potable (modern French potable (‘drinkable, potable’)), and from its etymon Late Latin pōtābilis (‘drinkable, potable’), from Latin pōtāre (‘to drink’) + -bilis (suffix forming adjectives indicating a capacity or worth of being acted upon). Pōtāre is the present active infinitive of pōtō (‘to drink’), from Proto-Italic *pōtos, from Proto-Indo-European *peh₃- (‘to drink’). The English word is cognate with Catalan potable, Italian potabile, Spanish potable.

Linked words

through Latin pōtō ‘drink’

poison, pot, potion, 5 more

Today it means

adj Good for drinking without fear of waterborne disease or poisoning.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Latin pōtus / potable

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